A former Minister of Transport, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, has described the death of former president, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, as a great loss to the nation.
Shagari, who was president between 1979 and 1983, passed away at the National Hospital, Abuja earlier on Friday, at 93.
Reacting to his death, Babatope told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on telephone that the country has just lost a tolerant and peace-loving leader in Shagari.
He said when the deceased was president in the second republic under the platform of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN), he tolerated scathing criticisms from the opposition and those who did not believe in his government.
Babatope said when he was the spokesman of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) , the main opposition party at that time, he could not remember anytime Shagari clamped down on any politician with opposing views. “Shagari was nice and gentleman. He was a great leader and democrat, a model of politics without bitterness.
“I belonged to the UPN and he was president under the platform of the NPN, but I can tell you that Shagari did not have any problem with anybody because of his political views.
“There was no clampdown on anybody under his government and the kind of politically-motivated killings we have nowadays were almost absent. “Even, Pa Awolowo, an opposition leader, highly regarded him because he was a peace loving leader who abhored violence. I can tell you that because I was the spokesman of UPN.
“The nation has lost a quintessential leader, a true nationalist and statesman; he will be remembered for all the good things his name represents”, he said.
Babatope urged politicians to emulate the deceased Nigerian leader by tolerating people of different political views or affiliations. He said that the 2019 elections would be totally devoid of problems if the political class and ordinary Nigerians imbibe Shagari’s values of politics without bitterness and respect for rights.
Babatope prayed for the peaceful repose of his soul and asked God to grant those he left behind the fortitude to bear the loss.
Comments